Shipping device



Aug. 9, 1927.

R. E. BAUS SHIPPING DEVICE Fi d June 14, 1924 3' Slieets-$heot 1 INVENTOR RICHARD E. BAUS ATTORNIEY R. E. BAUS SHIPPING DEVICE Aug. 9, '1927. 1,638,612

Filed June 14, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR RICHARD E, BAUS 8Y2) 9 "ATTORNEY;

A g R. EQBAUS SHIPPING DEVICE Filed June 14, 1924 s Sheets-Sheet 3 v LS-E- \D I m L I INVENTOR ATTORNEY ing shi ment.

Patented Aug. 9,1927.

UNITED STATES PATEN OFF ICE.

momma E. am, or. person, mrcnman, Assmnoa'ro ran mum conromrron, or Damon, MICHIGAN, aconronn'rxon or'rmw snrrrme nnvron.

Application and June 14,1924. semi no. 720,102.

This invention relates to means for bolding boxes during shipment so as to prevent .undue movement of the same, and has for its" principal object the provision of such means that will be simple andefiective, and that will reduce the time of loading and unloading such boxes.

Another object is to provide means where-.

by such boxes will be held in place without any spikes or nails being driven into the boxes for that purpose, thus eliminating ossible injury to the contents of the box,

rom that cause.

Another objectv is to provide such means that will be light in weight without sacrificing strength and efliciency, and thereby reduce the cost and dunnage charges on the article shipped.

A further object is to provide anti-skid plates between the boxes and the floor, or

etween a box and one directly above it in cases'where the boxes are superimposed dur- A. stlll further objectis to provide load. clamps for such boxes to hold them down on the floor, of such a nature that any shifting of position of the'boxes automatically acts to increase the resistance to further movement'of the same. 7 V

In the ship ing of lar e boxes by. railroads, particu arly crate automobiles on flat cars, great 'dlfliculty has been experienced in preventing them from breaking 'loose from their fastenings when the .cars are subjected" to violent shocks such as are often experienced in switchin For this reason it has been the custom o shippers to secure the boxes together by running boards, planks or the like between and across the boxes and nailing them to the same, and

nailing or spiking the lower boxes directlyto the car floor. This method, althou h usually suflicient to holdthe boxes on t e boxes .from'their' fastenings. The labor inthey unloa the boxes, or mutilate them, the

volved in so'securing the boxes on the cars and in removm them from the same 1s considerable, and inasmuch as the laborers en-' gaged 1n unloading such boxes are notoriously disre ardful of the manner in which is such that a severe jar or shock isdamage resulting from removing the-securmg members by crow-bars and. the like is objectionto the conventional method of securing such boxes is that it necessitates the 'use of considerable lumber which is genershipping such boxes whereby the objections 'very often. of great consequence. Anotherto the conventional method are overcome. v The above being among the objects of the present invention, the same consists of certain features of construction andmethods of application and use, to be hereinafter descrlbed with reference to the accompanying drawings, and .then claimed, having 'the above and other objects in view. e

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate'suitable embodiments of the resent invention and in which like numera 5 re-. fer to like parts throughout the several views: j

Figure 1 is.a perspective view which illustrates the adaptation of the present invention to a shipment of three boxes on a flat car, the car floor only being shown and 'part of the boxes being brokenaway to better show the application of the anti-skid plates thereto.

Figure 2 is an end view of the load illuss vtrated in perspective in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one of the anti-skid plates.

. Figure 4 is a perspective enlarged view of a fragment of the anti-skid plate shown in Figure 3, illustrating themanner in which it is formed.

Figure 5' is an enlarged 'view of a frag;-

ment of one of the boxes, showing a preferable manner of application of the anti-slid plate thereto.

preferred'form of shipping boxes where one is directly superimposed over another.

Although it, is'to 'be understood that this Figure 6 is anelevational view showings.

invention is applicable to the shipment of large boxes or crates of any type, for the purpose of illustration-I have shown boxes 106 I in which may be presumed to be automobiles inasmuch as these. are relatively large'an'd heavy and must be han led with a certain I amount of care, and as has been explained,

a great amount of diflicnlty has been experienced in shipping the same when the conventhough it is to be-understood that this inven-V tion is, a plicable to the shipment of boxes on the 001' of any suitable carr1er) upon which are supported three boxes 11, 12 and 13, the boxes 11 and 12 being positioned end to end directly on the floor but having the ends somewhat separated, and the box 13 is positioned above and resting substantially in equal amounts on the boxes 11 and 12.

The boxes are usually constructed and it'- is referable to have them constructed, with sk ds 14 on their bottoms. VThese skids 14.

are merely boards or pllanks running "the length of the bottom of e box as illustrated in dotted lines under the box 11 and are preferred construction but as shown consist usually such that a substantial space sepavention, between or adjacent the skids 14, what I refer to designate anti-skid plates 15 are p aced. These plates may be of any of sheets of metal provided with oppositely extending projections 16. The projections 16 are formed by forcing a punch through the sheet metal, the punch in passing time h the sheet, tearing the metal and causing t e projections 16 to be formed which project perpendicularly to the plane of the plate. The punch is first passed through one side of. the sheet, causing the projections '16 to project up from the opposite side thereof, and the plate is then turned over and the unch again passed throu h informing proections 16 extending out om the other side of the sheet, thus forming the anti-skid plate 15 which has projections 16 extending outwardly from bothsides thereof. The projections 16 are preferably formed with sharp or knife edges so that they will more readily enter the boxesor the floor. When the antiskid plates 15 are 14- as particularly illustrated in Figures 2 and 5 the distance between theextremityrof,

the projections 16 on one side of the plate and the extremity of the projections 16 on the other side must be substantially greater than the thickness of the skids 14 in order to properly engage both the boxes and the floor 10.

In making up theloads illustrated in the drawings, the anti-skid plates 15 are first placed in proper position on the floor 10 and,

referring to Figures 1 and 2, the boxes 11 and 12 are placed over them,-the anti-skid plates 15 being preferably placed adjacent the edges of the boxes and not near the center where springing of the bottom of the boxes might render them less efiective. The weight of the boxes is ordinarilysuficient to cause placed between the skids anaemia the projections 16 to imbed themselves both in the boxes and. in the floor 10 to such a dewill work with great efliciency should the skids 14 be eliminated and consequently allow the projections 16 to be imbedded to their full extent, it is considered preferable to use the construction shown, as in the samenot only the holding force of the anti-skid plates is realized but also the friction between the skids 14 and floor 10.

After the boxes 11 and 12 are in place, anti-skid plates 15 are placed in proper position on their top surfaces and the box 13 is set in place thereover. When all the boxes are in place the load clamp-bars 17, 18 and 19 are placed over the boxes as shown and are pulled down into place by means of the rods 20, whose lower hooked ends'engage the stake pockets 21 or other suitable securmg means, and whose upper ends project through the ends of the clamp bars 17, 18 and 19 and' threadably receive nuts 22 thereon.

. Although the meansfor holding the boxes is such, and is intended to be suflicient, to prevent movement of the boxes when the freight car is subjected to ordinary jars or shocks, it is not intended to prevent move ment of them when the freight car is sub jectedto unusually violent jars or shocks, for the reason that if they are allowed to shift or move a slight amount when the freight car is subjected to a violent shock, the strain on the boxes and their contents will be materially lessened. "lhe securing means are such that although the boxes may shift, due to a violent shock, the amount of such shifting will be limited in effect by the movement of the boxes themselves. This is for the reason that when the boxes move, they carry the clamp bars 17, 18 and 19 along with them, the lower ends of the rods remaining in the same position relative to the floor, with the result that the clamp bars 17 18 and 19 tend to revolve about the lower ends of the rods 20, and when the rods 20 move off of the vertical, the clamp bars tend tomove towards the floor, and exert an increasing clamping action on the boxes which in turn increases the friction between the boxes themselves and between the boxes and the floor. It is evident that although the boxes may shift, the shifting imovement will be limited and not to such an extent as to free' the securing means holding the boxes in position on the floor 10. There will be a tend- Y ency for the clamp bars to slide along the top of the boxes when the latter shift their posimany ways, but if it is desired to prevent the clamp bars from any movement whatever relative to the boxes, blocks such as 23 as are shown placed against each side of the clamp bar 8 in Figure 1 may be secured to.

the box and thereby prevent the clamp bar from movement relative to the box, or antiskid plates may be placed under the clamp bar as shown under the clamp bar 19 in Figure 1' and the same result will be achieved.

' It will be noted that the securing means illustrated isextremely simple and when compared to the conventional means, also extremely light weight, the latter effect ing a. substantial reduction in dunnage charges over the conventional means. An-

other great advantage of this invention is that the'labor charges incurred in loading and unloading the boxes is greatly reduced over the conventional means. In loading. it is only necessary to drop the anthslnd plates in position on the floor, set the boxes, in place over them, and where the boxes are supernaposed drop some anti-skid plates on the top of the lo'werboxes and's'etthe upper box or boxes in-place, after which the load clamp bars are placed in position and the clamp 'rods placed in position and drawn up in place, no nails or spikes being .used for securing the boxes in-place. The operation of unloading is simpler yet, it only being nec essary to remove the nuts 22, or to clip the rods 20 by bolt clippers and remove the boxes.

Although I have shown in Figures 1 and 2 a three box load, it is evident that this invention is aqually applicable to loads of one 7 box or more, whether they are single decked or superimposed, or loaded in a variety of difierent positions. By way of illustration I have shown inFigure 6 a load in which one box- 24 is'placed directly over another box 25, two load clamp bars 26 being placed over each upper box in this case. When another set of superimposed boxes such as 27 and 28 are provided in the same load they are prefer- I 'ably positioned to abutend to end againstthe boxes 24 and as shown, thereby. helping to prevent movement of the adjacent box when it tends to move in that direction.

Formal changes may be made in the specific embodiment'of the invention described without departing from the spirit or' substance of the road invention, the scope of which is com ensurate with the appended claims.

What I clainr-is:- p 1. Means for securing boxes to a floor dur- A., this 7th day ing shipment, comprising anti-skid plates ing bars for preventing relative movement between said clamp bars and said boxes.

2. Means for securing supernnposed boxes supported on a floor comprising, in combination members provided with oppositely disposed projections positioned between the adjacentfaces of said boxes and' between said floor and said boxes to prevent horizontal movement of said boxes, and means for preventing vertical movement of said boxes relative'to said floor comprising a clamp bar extending transversely of said boxes, a member provided with oppositely disposed projections positioned between ,the adjacent faces of said box and said clamp bar, and rods extending from said clamp bar to the floor, said rods having U-shaped lower ends and plates connecting the free ends of the rods with the main body thereof to'prevent disengagement of the rods with the floor.

3. Means for securing a box against movement on a floor comprising, in combination anti skid plates embedded in the load-carry-.

ing surface'thereof to prevent longitudinal movement of the box relative to the floor,

box relative to the floor comprising a clamp connecting said clamp bar to. the floor, and means secured to the box and engaging said clamp bar on either side thereof servingto cause an increased 'friction between thebox and floor 'upon shifting of the box.

4. .Means for securing a box againstvertical movement on a floor comprising a bers provided with oppositely disposed proclamp bar extending across said box, mem 7 jections positioned between adjacent faces of said box and clamp bar to prevent shifting of said clamp ba'r relative to said box, and rods connecting the free ends of said clamp bar to the floor 'tosecure said box therebetween.

' 5. Means for securing ing shipment comprising, in combination, anti-skid plates positioned between said boxes and floor, clamping bars extending across said boxes','and means secured to said bars and floor foranchormg said bars therei to, said bars being adapted to shift with said boxes thereby causing an increased clamping action on said boxes. 7

Signed by me at Detroit, Michigan, U. S.

of June, 1924. RICHARD E. BAUS. 

